Each year, the NAWBO Columbus Visionary Awards honor one Central Ohio woman business owner who has achieved success with her business while making notable contributions to her community, her industry, and to initiatives for other women in business. This year, on our twentieth anniversary, we are not only honoring our next Visionary Woman, but we are paying homage to our past Visionaries as well.

Congratulations to the 2017 Visionary Honoree:

Heather Whaling is founder & president of Geben Communication. In 2016, she was named EY Entrepreneur of the Year in the Ohio Valley Region (OH, KY, IN). After launching the company from her dining room in 2009, Heather’s fresh approach to best practices has helped Geben evolve into a highly respected, sought-after, award-winning PR firm. With offices in Columbus and Chicago, Geben was named the national media relations agency of the year (Ragan/PR Daily) and a top 10 agency for startups (Agency Post).

We are also excited to announce our Women's Business Champion -

DOROTHY PELANDA,

State Representative

Representative Pelanda was instrumental in our Chapter's efforts to get the approval of the micro-business initiative.

Founded in 1981 in Columbus, OH, UNIGLOBE Travel Designers is a minority, women-owned and family-owned award-winning travel management company. Since Elizabeth took over as president in 2012, the company has nearly doubled its revenue through acquisition of major accounts and expansion of its corporate travel business. Elizabeth is the 2nd Vice President for NAWBO Columbus and is in line to serve as president of the chapter in 2018-2019.